A Christmas Album (James Taylor album)

A Christmas Album is the first Christmas album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor released on a limited-edition basis in 2004, with distribution through Hallmark stores. The albums were also not carried by all Hallmark Cards stockists.

A Christmas Album
Studio album by James Taylor
Released	November 2004 (2004-11)
Recorded	March – April 2004
Studio	Capitol (Hollywood)
Genre	Christmas, jazz
Label	Hallmark
Producer	Dave Grusin
James Taylor chronology
The Best of James Taylor (2003) A Christmas Album (2004) James Taylor at Christmas (2006)

Track listing

1. "Winter Wonderland" with Chris Botti (Dick Smith, Felix Bernard) – 3:36
2. "Go Tell It on the Mountain" (Traditional) – 3:48
3. "In the Bleak Midwinter" (Traditional) – 4:18
4. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Natalie Cole (Frank Loesser) – 4:19
5. "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (Haven Gillespie, John Frederick Coots) – 2:58
6. "Jingle Bells" (Traditional) – 3:55
7. "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" with Toots Thielemans (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells) – 3:54
8. "Deck the Halls" (Traditional) – 2:51
9. "Some Children See Him" (Alfred Burt, Wihla Hutson) – 4:41
10. "Who Comes This Night" (Dave Grusin, Sally Stevens) – 4:17
11. "Auld Lang Syne" (Traditional) – 3:41

The album originally came with an online code that could be used to download an outtake from the sessions, a cover of Joni Mitchell's "River". In 2006, Taylor's regular label, Columbia Records, reissued the album under a new title (James Taylor at Christmas) and cover. This new version also altered the track listing, with "Deck the Halls" removed and two other songs ("Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and the aforementioned cover of "River") added.

Personnel

• James Taylor – lead vocals, guitars (2, 6, 8, 11), arrangements (2, 3, 6, 8)
• Dave Grusin – arrangements, acoustic piano (1, 4-6, 9-11), celesta (7, 10)
• Larry Goldings – melodica (2, 3, 11), harmonium (3, 8, 11), organ (6), acoustic piano (7)
• John Pizzarelli – guitars (1, 5, 7, 11)
• George Doering – guitars (2-4, 6, 10)
• Michael Landau – guitars (2-4, 6, 8, 11)
• Dave Carpenter – bass (1, 5, 7, 10, 11)
• Jimmy Johnson – bass (2-4, 6)
• Vinnie Colaiuta – drums (1-7, 11)
• Luis Conte – percussion (2, 4, 6, 10)
• Michael Fisher – percussion (8)
• Ralph Williams – bass clarinet (1)
• Gary Gray – clarinet (1)
• Bill Liston – clarinet (1)
• Dan Higgins – flute (1)
• Phil Ayling – English horn (1), oboe (1)
• Chris Botti – trumpet (1)
• Toots Thielemans – harmonica (7)
• David Lasley – backing vocals (1, 2, 8, 10)
• Kate Markowitz – backing vocals (1, 2, 8, 10)
• Arnold McCuller – backing vocals (1, 2, 8, 10)
• Andrea Zonn – violin, backing vocals (1, 2, 8, 10)
• Natalie Cole – lead vocals (4)

Strings (1–5, 7, 9, 10)

• Ralph Morrison – concertmaster
• Steve Erdody, Paula Hochhalter and Cecilia Tsan – cello
• Edward Mears – contrabass
• Karen Elaine Bakunin, Brian Dembow, Marlow Fisher, Roland Kato and Vicki Miskolczy – viola
• Jackie Brand, Bruce Dukov, Julie Gigante, Alan Grunfield, Clayton Haslop, Tamara Hatwan, Natalie Leggett, Ralph Morrison, Claudia Parducci, Sara Parkins, Katia Popov, Josefina Vergara, Margaret Wooten and Kenneth Yerke – violin

Production

• Dave Grusin – producer, liner notes
• Don Murray – recording, mixing
• Charlie Paakkari – assistant engineer
• Robert Vosgien – mastering at Capitol Mastering (Hollywood, California).
• Gary Borman – management
• Barbara Rose Granatt – management
• James Taylor – liner notes